1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a signboard device installed on a roadside to exhibit information regarding roads, buildings, or street names for convenience of drivers or pedestrians, and more particularly to a signboard device which allows a signboard showing driving or walking information to be easily and stably attached to a post and which provides an acceptable appearance of the signboard and the post in order to improve the cityscape.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In general, various road signs, which are intended to show drivers and pedestrians information relating to dangerous circumstances of a road to assure safety and smooth driving conditions, and which are further intended to provide drivers and pedestrians with information relating to a road, such as direction of a road, distance to a destination, and notable destination points, are installed on roadsides for drivers' and pedestrians' convenience.
Such a signboard is arbitrarily manufactured into a desired shape and size and installed on a post at a roadside to allow drivers and pedestrians to distinctly recognize its communicative information.
Accordingly, a conventional signboard device includes a post having a proper height, and a signboard hung on a cantilever beam fixed to an upper part of the post.
In such a conventional signboard device, a cantilever hanger is provided at its end with a band clamp, which is comprised of a pair of semicircular clamping bands, each clamping band having a pair of flanges at either end. The pair of clamping bands are placed on an outer surface of a post such that the pair of clamping bands face each other. Thereafter, the facing flanges of the clamping bands are fastened by bolts, so that the cantilever hanger is horizontally supported on the post. Subsequently, a pair of hinge brackets are coupled to sides of an upper end of a signboard. The hinge brackets are rotatably connected to two pairs of lugs spacedly provided at a lower portion of the cantilever hanger by hinge bolts and hinge nuts.
However, since the conventional signboard device has the band clamp, comprised of a pair of clamping bands which are completely separated from each other, the band clamp must be fastened by bolts at both its ends. Furthermore, since the hinge brackets of the signboard must be connected to the lugs of the cantilever hanger by hinge bolts and hinge nuts, respectively, an operation of coupling the signboard to the post is considerably complicated.
In addition, since the band clamp can accommodate only one signboard, whereas a plurality of signboards need be installed on one post, a plurality of band clamps, corresponding to the number of needed signboards, must be prepared. In this case, the installation operation of the signboards is considerably complicated, production cost is increased and scenery is significantly spoiled.
Furthermore, although the respective components, manufactured from an iron material, are then coated with paint, the components are apt to be oxidized and corroded due to paint damage at their coupled portions after an extended period of time, thereby causing contamination of the post and reduction of its service life, if not in fact frequent change of the post.
To overcome these problems of the conventional signboard, signboard devices in which a plurality of signboards can be easily installed on a post are proposed in publications, for example, in Korean Patent No. 0245545 and Korean Utility Model No. 0225257.
According to the above Patent and Utility Model, a post is provided at its outer surface with a plurality of radial fitting grooves, into which sliding holders are selectively fitted. By inserting signboards between forked plates of the sliding holders and tightening the signboards by bolts, a plurality of signboards can be easily installed on one post.
However, the above conventional signboard devices have disadvantages in that since the signboard must be manufactured using a thin plate, due to the fact that the signboard must be fitted into a narrow gap between the two fork plates of the holder and then held thereto, the signboard is inevitably weak in its structural strength and thus apt to be bent or deformed by collision with automobiles or even the force of the wind.
Furthermore, since reflective sheets or fluorescent material must be provided on the signboard in order to provide favorable visual effectiveness under poor viewing conditions such as at night or in the rain, it is difficult to assure reliable visual effectiveness.
In addition, since the post which has fitting grooves at its outer surface is buried in the ground at its lower portion, and is exposed to the outside environment at its major portion except that which is buried, when the post is subjected to a collision with an automobile, the fitting grooves of the post are damaged or crushed, thereby causing sliding of the holders to be difficult or impossible. As a result, the post must be frequently replaced, and the cost needed to repair the damaged post is considerably high.
In particular, because of the fitting grooves formed on the outer surface of the post, a lower part of the post is apt to be contaminated by extraneous material. Furthermore, since the appearance of the post is monotonous, it is difficult to expect visual improvement to the cityscape.